The decision from the state’s highest court is not a definitive end to the ongoing dispute between the Five Tribes and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and Gov. Kevin Stitt. Rather, the conflict will be decided in federal court, where there is already litigation.
The issue came to light last October when the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation ordered game wardens to ticket tribal citizens without state-issued licenses who went hunting or fishing on lands not held in trust by the tribes. An ODWC spokesperson said the department’s decision was in light of two recent court decisions: Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission and Stitt v. Tulsa.
Leaders of the Five Tribes began to express disapproval; some even blamed the governor for his refusal to renew the hunting and fishing compacts.
A couple of weeks later, Drummond intervened and vowed to safeguard tribal sovereignty and dismiss these cases.
Then, in December, Drummond issued a formal opinion that said the state’s wildlife code does not usurp tribes’ sovereignty over wildlife management on their reservations. It also acknowledged these tribes already have comprehensive wildlife codes that establish licensing requirements, and the two court decisions the department is using to justify their decision do not authorize “Wildlife Code enforcement against Indians on reservations.”
In an attempt to strike down Drummond’s opinion, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and Stitt asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court in late January to weigh in on Drummond’s authority. The court ultimately rejected this attempt on Monday.
“This ruling is another rejection of Gov. Stitt's unlawful campaign against tribal citizens exercising their long-held rights,” Drummond said in a statement. “The Court would not be used as a tool to override settled federal law and decades of cooperative wildlife management. My position has never wavered: federal law is clear, and it is my duty to uphold it.”
In the interim before a federal ruling is made, Drummond is asking wildlife officials to follow his guidance and not ticket tribal citizens hunting on reservation land.
One of the justices noted the federal court may not agree with Drummond’s analysis of federal law, as explained in his opinion. Regardless, the court will help clarify a gray area regarding where tribal citizens can hunt and fish with tribally issued licenses.
“Once the federal court resolves this question, its decision grounded in federal law will likewise settle the state question addressed in the Opinion,” wrote Justice Travis Jett.
